Return to the Tunnel of Love
by Slaymesoftly
Summary: A short sequel to Roller Coaster of Love. Not necessary to have read that one first, though, all references to it should be pretty self-explanatory. Spike and Buffy are sent back to the amusement part to find out why patrons are disappearing from the Tunnel of Love.


_Prompt: Boat Ride_

_Rating: Strong PG 13_

_Summary: Sunnydale's amusement park is having trouble again. This time, patrons are disappearing in the Tunnel of Love. _

**Return to the Tunnel of Love**

Giles pinched his nose and rubbed his forehead as Buffy bounced in the door, followed closely by the vampire who now seemed to accompany her everywhere.

"We're here, Giles," she announced unnecessarily, ignoring the way he frowned at her companion. "What's the what?"

"It seems that the Sunnydale Funland amusement park is having trouble again," he replied, tapping the paper on his desk. "Several disappearances from the Tunnel of Love."

"I'll bet it's that slutty fairy," Buffy muttered, earning a puzzled look from Giles and an eye roll from Spike.

"She wasn't real, love. Remember? Just another one of Rupert's mate's delaying tactics."

"Well, who knows? Maybe Ethan came back and—"

"He didn't," Giles said shortly. "This may be something magical, but I'm inclined to think it's a demonic thing. Some sort of predator in the tunnel somewhere."

Spike nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. "Could be, at that. It's a good place for a vamp nest -– nice dark place to live, food delivery to your door every day, plenty of walking around meals if you feel like going out at night... Can see that." He was nodding in approval when he noticed the two sets of narrowed eyes glaring at him. "Not that it's the right thing to do," he added quickly. "It would be wrong, and evil and—"

"Forget it," Buffy said with a sigh. "You're already in trouble." She looked up at Giles. "It does make sense, though. It's a perfect place for a vamp nest. And nobody would notice what was happening. The boats are far apart and it's really dark, and..."

"And most couples aren't going to be payin' that much attention to their surroundings," Spike added, wiggling his eyebrows. "Are they, pet?" Buffy's blush didn't go unnoticed, nor did Giles' accompanying groan. Spike just grinned at him and held the door open for Buffy. "Let's go, Slayer. There's evil afoot and we need to take a slow ride into a dark place."

"You keep rubbing this in Giles' face and he's going to be putting you in the Hoover," she muttered as they walked away.

"Nah," he said, bumping her arm with his. "If he didn't do it right off, when he asked about the turtleneck you were wearin', he's not gonna do it now. I've already proved my worth, haven't I?"

"I had that under control," she growled, knowing he was referring to the events of a few nights ago.

Buffy did believe that she would have been able to get out of the situation herself, but she couldn't deny that knowing Spike was protecting Giles and Xander had made it much easier for her to concentrate on the demons she'd been facing. And, if he hadn't saved her life by tackling one just as it leapt onto her back, he had at least saved her from serious injury. She shuddered, remembering how close the demon's teeth had come to her neck. The furious snarls and barely understandable curses coming from Spike as he tore the demon apart with his fangs and claws had the Scoobies staying on the opposite side of the room from him the rest of the night.

He just nodded and said, " 'course you did, pet. Never doubted it." His eyes slid in her direction and she gave him a small smile.

"You might have helped... a little," she admitted. "You know you scared Giles and Xander into the middle of next week."

Spike's expression wavered between pride and shame, pride finally winning out. "Bloody bastard tried to touch you," he said, drawing himself up to his full height. "I couldn't have kept my demon under control if I'd wanted to." He nudged her again, " 'sides, it won't hurt them to remember I can be scary. Makes me feel all manly when they cower in the corner."

"Yeah, yeah, Big Bad. Save that for people who haven't seen you hopping around in a chair yelling about the bear in the room." Buffy giggled as he growled and grabbed her from behind.

"It was a bloody _big_ bear!" he insisted. "And I was tied to a chair!"

"I wouldn't have let the bear have you," Buffy said, turning in his arms and touching his cheek with her fingers. "Nobody can beat up on my vampire, but me."

"If I wasn't a vamp, that probably wouldn't sound as arousing as it does, would it?" He nuzzled her neck, still holding her in a tight embrace, smiling as her heart rate went up. She whimpered when his lips brushed across the fading marks he'd left on her the previous week. "Anyway, wasn't yours yet then. For all I knew, you were going to feed me to the bear." He nibbled gently on the side of her neck, sliding his hands under her shirt to stroke her back.

"Okay," she said, pushing against his chest. "You need to stop that stuff. We've got slaying to do."

"Spoil sport," he said, letting her go, but taking her hand in his.

"Since when do you call killing things 'spoiling'?"

"Good point, love." He picked up his pace. "Let's go get 'em!"

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**

The cleaning out of the now-deserted Tunnel of Love was almost too easy. With customers becoming reluctant to go in – now that word had gotten out that not everyone actually came out the other side – it was easy for Buffy and Spike to walk up and convince the nervous ride attendant that he should let them take one of the boats through. Buffy carefully picked one without any painted fairies on the prow, smacking Spike when he laughed at her.

They settled on the cushioned seat and let the water pull them into the darkened tunnel. Although the soft lighting that would normally have provided some small amount of visibility was not working, Spike's vampire eyes had no trouble seeing.

"Heads up, love," he said. "Think I was right about it being a nest."

"Yeah," she whispered. "I can feel them."

As their boat went around a bend, leaving the last vestiges of outside lighting behind, Spike shifted into game face and began to growl. The first vampire landed in the boat before Buffy even registered how close he was – only to meet her stake when Spike grabbed him and pushed him onto it.

"This sucks!" Buffy growled. "I can't see a damn thing."

"Close your eyes, love. Feel them."

"Use the force?" she said. "Thanks, Obi-wan, that's very useful." Her sarcasm wasn't lost on Spike and he growled at her.

"Guess we need to work on that, then," he said. "It's something you should be able to do. Meanwhile..." As he was speaking, he was pulling down the fake walls beside them and making a pile of wood and canvas in the prow of the boat. He took out his lighter and flicked it on, handing it to Buffy and stepping back as far away as he could get. "Here, make yourself some light, Slayer. We've got incoming."

The dry, painted canvas flared up, illuminating three more vampires standing along a narrow ledge. They shrank back from the fire, pinning themselves against the wall where Buffy staked two of them without a fight. The third vamp turned to run, jumping into the shallow water, only to find Spike waiting for him. The fight was short and soon Buffy and Spike were standing on the ledge watching their now-flaming boat drift away.

"Do you feel any more?" he asked. "Or did we get them all?"

"Can't you tell? I thought you could hear everything?"

"Can," he said shortly. "Not the point. I'm not the one who can't see in the dark and who has to fight things that can. I need to know that your senses are doing their job. Now tell me if you can feel any more vamps!"

"Sheesh! You sound like Giles," she grumbled. "He's all, 'close your eyes, Buffy. What do you feel?'"

In spite of her words, she did shut her eyes, blocking out the faint light from the burning boat now sinking as it floated away. She concentrated on separating the familiar tingle that said "Spike" from anything else. She frowned, then her eyes flew open just as the last vampire leapt at her, landing on the stake she had raised. As he dust floated away, she glared at Spike.

"You couldn't have just told me he was stalking me?"

"Could have. But that wouldn't have helped you learn to sense danger, would it?"

Buffy cocked her head at him, knowing he could see her, even though she couldn't see him very well. She stared in his general direction, a small smile hovering on her face.

"What?"

"Nothing." Buffy looked away and shrugged. "It's just kind of weird, you know? The Slayer of Slayers worrying about keeping me alive."

He stepped into her space, sliding his arms around her. "That's William worrying about the woman he loves," he said softly. "An' maybe a bit of the demon wanting to be sure he isn't going to lose his mate."

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh', Slayer. Not goin' to lose you. Not now, not tomorrow, not ever."

"Spike." Buffy sighed and leaned into his chest, nuzzling against him. "You know I'm going to die someday, right? Probably sooner rather than later."

His arms tightened. "Later, love. It's goin' to be much, much later. I promise you. You're going to be the longest lived slayer in history – even if I have to make your watcher look like a slacker when it comes to trainin' you."

"Oh, joy. So I'll have two of you trying to tell me what to do. I can't wait." She gave a half-hearted push to his chest. "What's in it for me?"

"There could be rewards..." he whispered in her ear, pulling her against his body. "Startin' as soon as we grab the next boat." As he spoke, he reached one arm out and snagged the next little boat, pulling it up on the shelf with them. It just barely fit on the concrete lip, but a small shove against the fake stone backdrop gave them more room. He guided Buffy, who was once again without any light, into the boat, kicking the small wooden seats away so that the cushions fell onto the floor, making a soft area in which to lie down.

"I can't see anymore," she murmured as she squirmed under him.

"There's a vampire here, love. Can't you feel him?"

"Oooo, why yes. I think I can, now that you mention it. I don't think he's trying to kill me, though..."

"He might settle for making you scream."

_THE END_


End file.
